Cathode-ray projection tube



June 1954 R. K. ORTHUBER CATHODE-RAY PROJECTION TUBE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Aug. '7, 1951 u M m I n m J1me 1954 R. K. ORTHUBER CATHODE-RAY PROJECTION TUBE 3 Sheets-Sheet '2.

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565N1- wa-u w 1977' BN J1me 1954 R. K. ORTHUBER CATHODE-RAY PROJECTION TUBE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed Aug. '7, 1951 T. MIWY a E 0 4 T5 NW m Mr W m% Kffi w 0 E m w E Y B Patented June 22, 1954 UNITED- STATES FATENT OT-F F ICE.

Richer-(11K- Orthuber; Fort -Wayne, .Ind., assignor to the United States of Americalas represented by -the".S'ecretaryof the Air Force Original application August 7, 1951 Serial-No.

240,772; Dividedand thisapplication'zoctober 31, 1952, Serial. No.. 318,144'

Claims; (Cl.i315--3) (Granted/under Title 35;:U. S. Code (1952),"

sec. 266)- The invention described :herein'v may ,be manufactured-and :fused b3 501? .for theGovernment forapplication. is 1 adivision: of application.

SerialNiimber 24:0,? '72 filed August 7,= 1951 This inventionrelateszto systems for the optical projectionof thezpicture information contained ima :video signal-.

At.presentwcathode-ray.projection tubes generallya'employ a fluorescent. screen which must berexcitedtat :azhl'gh'level in order to produce: an imagewof 'sufiicient. brightness to be projected. Such tubes erequire every high acceleration voltages sandrcurrent densities-to obtainsthe necess saryz'high'level-v excitationofthe phosphor which iniurn has a comparativelyshort life;

It zisithe object of this invention/to provide a cathode-ray projection :tube'which does-not employzithe :usual i'fluorescent screen: and Which is capable of utilizing 'an'external source of light such as themconventional"projectionwlamp and condensing dens :system.v Briefly,- the tube contains;=in.:placelofrazfluorescentscreen; an element which 'may y be rtermedz an. electrostatic shutter mosaic. The -mosaic consists of .a :multitude of flaps of elemental size imounted 1011.. a.- substrate whichmay beeither transparent or opaque. The electron beam is. caused @toscan-over -.a.transparent. dielectric element placed opposite and close to.the.mosaic soas to control the charge .in the vicinityof the flaps. The resulting electrostatic force acting oneachflap causes a bendingthereof in proportion'to the strength of'theiorce. A projectionlens system is used *to form an image ofthe-mosaic on" the screen; Two methods of illuminating the mosaic fromthe projection light scurce are possible; 'Incne method-,in which' the substrate must be transparent, lightis'passed through-themosaic, with each flap controlling the amount of light passingithrough the correspondingzp'art :cf ::the mosaic to the projection lensras =:a function :of zthe amount :of bending of therfiapz; .Intheother :method :each elemental flap-acts :as :a; small mirror t'refiectingjli'ght from thc.=projection llightcsource into the projection lens in anamount determined bythe degree of bending of the particular flap.-

.The brightnesslof the projected. image obtainable .with. a projection.systemdn. accordance with the invention is essentially. higher than the brightness producedwith fluorescent screens since alight source of any desiredintensit'y may be-iuserl' Further;the'acceleratingwoltages"and beam"currentintensities'require'd' aremo higher thanzfor :conventional. cathode-ray .tubes :anizxth'e directwiewing type. The disclosed projection systemalsohas the advantage-overthc :fluoress centtype projectionstube that,..when: the picture consists in a succession of frames, the fii'cker :is' materially reducedv due to .the. factthat .the brightness duringcne'frame period .is constant anddoes not decay exponentiallyas inothelcase of. fluorescent. materials.

.Aimore detailed :explanation;..of invention will be given in connection with ithe;specific rem-.1 bodiments thereof shown .in..the accompanying drawings'in'which.

.Fig; .1 shows :a projection :tube :in accordance with the invention:

Figs. .2v and :2arshow details. of ztheelectrostatid shutter mosaic.

3 .:shows.a. method of erasing .the==charge produced by-ascanningeelectron beam.-

Fig. 4 shows :ano.ther:method o2erasingsthe charge produced i'by the scanning .beam.

Fig; .5 shows a suitable optical. systemi'fori-luse tvithTtransparent. mosaics.

.F-i-gsfi and'? r'show a suitable optical-system utilizing themosaic elementszas-refiectorsr.

Referring to Fig. 1 the cathode-ray tube-shown comprises a glassenvelope I containing-:anvelem trostatic shutter mosaic 2 in accordance :witlmthe invention, a.cathode 3, .a control celectrode im accelerating and beam forming .electrc'defiahonizontal deflecting electrodes 6 and verticalidefiect ing electrodes 1. The electrodes cooperate. to produce an electron .beam '8 which is intensity modulated in. accordance with a videosignal applied to electrode Land which line scans'the sunface of afflat sheet of insulating materialmllif which is placed parallel to the substrate-'I0.- and close tothefiaps, in the-conventional manner." The 'tube' is also provided with the conventional ccnducti-ve coating-9 on its inner surface which is maintained at a high' potential relative to the cathode; Thecoating is not present on the surfaces of the tube opposite the mosaic zso as to provide-transparent windows in thetube to per mit projection of an image of the-mosaic:

The -details of the mosaic 2 are 'moremle'arl-y illustrated in Fig. 2 which shows a greatly en larged fragment thereof. The mosaic-comprises a'sub's'trate IE!" on which are mounted amultitude of minute flaps ll uniformly distributed over the surface of the substrate, preferably-in straight horizontal rows. In general,the number of such rows-in the mosaicshould be at le'astequatto and-preferably higher than the number of horn zcntarscanning lines contained in one complete frame in the particular television system, and the dimensions of the flaps should be roughly equal to the height of the mosaic divided by the number of lines. However, if less resolving power is required a smaller number of flaps of larger dimensions located in fewer horizontal rows may be employed. The substrate It may be transparent or opaque depending upon the type of optical system employed as will be pointed out later. The substrate I is conductive and is connected to a source of positive potential. If opaque, it may be made of a suitable metal such as aluminum. However, if the substrate is to be transparent it may be made of a suitable transparent material such as glass with a thin transparent metallic coating on which the flaps are mounted. The flaps II are made of metal such as aluminum, are preferably of rectangular shape and are connected to the substrate at one edge only. The ratio of thickness to length of the flaps is chosen so low that, by means of electric charges applied to them by the electron beam of the tube or acting on them, they can be bent to an amount detectable with the optical systems to be described later.

A suitable form for the flaps is shown in more detail in Fig. 2a The portion 30 is preferably rectangular and, if the fiap is to be used as a reflector, should also be flat. The flap is connected to the substrate l0 along one edge by flexible connecting part 3|. The thickness of part 3| is preferably made less than the thickness of part 30 in order that substantially all of the bending will occur in part 3|. This is particularly desirable when the flap acts as a reflector. Methods for making mosaics of this type are described and claimed in my joint applications Serial Nos. 269,569, 269,570, now Patent No. 2,670,523, and 269,571, filed February 1, 1952.

The electron beam in Fig. l operates to generate an electric field in the capacitor formed by the thin insulating sheet [3 positioned in front of the flaps and close to them. This sheet is made of a suitable insulating material such as mica or glass and is positioned parallel to and close to the mosaic 2. The beam 8 scans over the sheet l3 and produces a negative charge thereon which varies over the surface of the sheet in accordance with variations in the video modulation of the electron beam. The bending of each fiap I! is determined by the charge density on that part of sheet l2 opposite the particular flap. The flaps I l on the mosaic 2 therefore will be bent in varying amounts in accordance with the electron or charge density image on sheet I3. The flaps are mounted directly on a conductive surface on substrate Ill which is in turn connected to a point of high positive potential. The substrate may be either transparent or opaque as required by the arrangement of the optical system. As already stated, for the transparent type the substrate may be made of a transparent insulating material such as glass having a thin transparent metallic coating on which the flaps are mounted. An opaque substrate may consist simply of a sheet of metal. In order to produce the above negative charges on sheet is the intensity of the electron beam should be such that the ratio of primary to secondary electrons for the insulating material used is less than unity.

If the video signal applied to the above cathode-ray tubes represents a changing image occurring in successive frames, as in a television signal, the charges applied to the insulating sheet [3 must be erased between frames and the charge- "or deflecting systems.

taking element returned to its reference potential. This can be achieved by the use of a semiconductor to allow the charges to leak off between frames. For this purpose a thin layer of Semiconductive material is placed over the surface of insulatin sheet 13 and connected to the positive inner surface of the tube as shown in Fig. 3. This layer may be made thin enough to be transparent if the optical system used for projection is such as to require light transmission through sheet [3. Suitable semiconductive materials for this purpose are silenium, lead sulphide and silicon.

Another method of erasing charges between frames employs an erasing electron beam for this purpose. Fig. 4 shows this method. The tube in Fig. 4 is similar to that in Fig. 1 except that it is provided with two complete beam generating The beam 8 is the writing beam and serves the same function as in Fig. 1. Its energy is such that the ratio of secondary electrons to primary electrons for the insulating material of sheet I3 is less than unity with the result that the elemental areas of the sheet are charged negatively by the beam. The erasing beam 14, however, produced by the other electron beam system, has sufficiently high energy that the secondary electron ratio in its case is greater than unity. The effect of beam H on the elemental areas of sheet It; therefore is to charge them positively since they lose more secondary electrons than the number of primary electrons received. By this process the potential of each elemental area is raised to that of coating 9- at which point secondary emission is suppressed and the potential of the area stabilized. By arranging the deflectin voltages for beam M so that the beam precedes beam 8 by a short interval, such as one or two periods of the horizontal sweep frequency, each elemental area of sheet [3 is restored to the reference potential shortly before being subjected to the writing beam 8.

Other means of image erasure are also possible. For example, illumination of the charge receiving element with ultraviolet or shorter wavelength radiation between frames can effect discharge thereof by photo-emission.

The optical system for the above tubes must provide means for uniformly illuminating the electrostatic shutter mosaic and for projecting an image of the mosaic onto a projection screen. Fig. 5 shows a simple optical system for this purpose. This system requires that the substrate l0 and insulating sheet l3 be transparent. A projection lamp l5, which may represent any suitable light source, in combination with reflector it and condensin lens system I! evenly illuminate the mosaic 2 from the rear. The projection lens l8 forms an image of the front side of mosaic 2 on the screen IQ. When the flaps II have been subjected to electrostatic forces of varying amounts through the action of an intensity modulated electron beam in the manner already explained they will be bent upward by varying amounts depending upon the degree of the force. It is evident that the greater the bending of any flap the greater the amount of light that will pass through the elemental area of substrate I0 located under the flap and the brighter will be the image of this elemental area on the screen 19. The image on screen is therefore will be composed of a multitude of elemental areas of light corresponding in intensity to the charges on the flaps H, so that the image is an optical representation of the electron image on the mosaic 2.

Another optical system for projecting an image of the electrostatic shutter mosaic on a screen is shown in Figs. 6 and 7. In this system the flaps I I must be flat and capable of specular light reflection. In addition, it is necessary that all flaps be parallel to each other when all are at the reference potential, however, they need not necessarily be parallel to the substrate in their rest position. This method of projection is applicable to mosaics with either transparent or opaque substrates, however, in Figs. 6 and 7 the application is to a tube havin a transparent mosaic.

Referring to Fig. 6, if all flaps are parallel in their rest positions as specified above, the flap array acts like a single plane mirror parallel to the flaps. This imaginary reflecting surface is indicated at in Fig. 6. The light from source 2| would normally be focused by condensing lens I! to an image of the light source at 22. However, interposition of the reflectin surface 20, i. e. the flap array, causes the image to fall at 22'. The projection lens It produces an image of the mosaic on a projection screen. The focal lengths of the lenses I7 and iii are so chosen that the image of the light source 22' falls within or directly behind lens 128. Also the lens [8 should have approximately the same size as the image 22'.

The system is so arranged that when flaps I! are in their rest or no-signal condition the image 22 is displaced just to one side of the lens I8, as shown in Fig. 6, so that no light from the light source 2! enters the lens and the screen is dark. The arrangement is also such that when all flaps have their maximum negative charge the resulting outward bending thereof, which may be represented by a counterclockwise rotation of reflecting surface 29, is just sufiicient to bring the image 22 wholly within the boundaries of lens is, as shown in Fig. 7, so that the screen has its maximum brilliance.

Actually the image 22 is composed of a multitude of identical superimposed images one of which is contributed by each of the flaps I l of the mosaic. Hence the action of each individual flap is identical to the action of reflecting surface 20. Therefore, variation of the electrostatic force on any flap as a result of the action of the electron beam causes variations in the position of the image 22' due to the particular flap relative to the lens l3, resulting in a corresponding variation in the brightness of the image of the flap on the projection screen. All of the elemental areas of light thus formed constitute an optical image corresponding to the electron image on the mosaic.

The projection system shown in Figs. 6 and 7 is equally applicable to a mosaic having an opaque substrate. In this case the light source and projection lens are located on the same side of the mosaic as the electron beam and reflection takes place from the top rather than the bottom surfaces of the flaps. The principle of operation, however, is the same. This arrangement, of course, can also be used with a transparent substrate if desired.

I claim:

1. A cathode-ray projection tube comp-rising an evacuated envelope, a mosaic in said envelope comprising a Hat substrate of conductive material, a multitude of flaps each consisting of a thin flat substantially rectangular metallic sheet of elemental area and an attaching member more flexible than said sheet joined to one edge of said sheet and to said substrate for flexibly attaching said sheet to said substrate, a thin plate of insulating material positioned parallel to the fiap side of said substrate and close to said flaps, a cathode, beam forming and beam intensity controlling means in said envelope for directing an electron beam of variable intensity against the surface of said plate remote from said flaps for negatively charging the area of said surface struck by said beam in proportion to the intensity of said beam, means for maintaining said conductive substrate at a positive potential relative to said cathode, means for maintaining the inner walls of said envelope in the vicinity of said flaps and said plate at a positive potential relative to said cathode, beam deflecting means for line scanning the said remote surface of said plate, and means for removing the negative charge from said plate between successive scannings.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said plate is transparent, the walls of said envelope opposite the faces of said substrate are transparent and said substrate is transparent, said substrate having a thin transparent conductive coating between its surface and said flaps.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the faces of said flaps are capable of specular reflection.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said last named means consists of a thin layer of semiconductive material on the scanned surface of said plate connected to a point of positive potential relative to said cathode.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said last named means comprises second electron beam forming means for producing a beam of electrons of sufiicient energy that the ratio of secondary to primary electrons for the plate material used is greater than unity, and means for line scanning the said remote surface of said plate with said second beam following each scanning thereof by said first beam.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,025,143 Zworykin Dec. 24, 1935 2,128,631 Eaton Aug. 30, 1938 2,276,359 Von Ardenne Mar. 17, 1942 

